PEDRO PRESSURE POT HAS DOUBLED
MARVIN ANDREWS reckons the pressure on Rangers’ shoulders will be twice as intense this term as it was during their first campaign back in the Ladbrokes Premiership.
The Light Blues finished a distant third last season and were left emptyhanded following defeats to Celtic in the League and Scottish Cups.
Pedro Caixinha’s side have already suffered the ignominy of a Europa League exit to minnows Progres Niederkorn and former Ibrox stopper Andrews told SportTimes: “Obviously it would
have been good for the club financially to have a run in the Europa League, but at the end of the day it is the league that is the most important thing for Rangers.
“The pressure will be on Rangers because of what has happened last season. This year, I think the pressure is twice as much on the players than it was last season.”
Rangers will begin the new Premiership campaign with a trip to Motherwell next month and Andrews knows Caixinha’s side have to hit the ground running this term.
Andrews added: “They had a little leeway because they had just been promoted to the Premiership but this time it is different.
“The fans want success, nothing else and nothing less. Rangers need to have a much better season.
“Winning the league would be perfect and winning silverware would be great as well but the focus has to be on starting well. They need to improve drastically when it comes to winning games in the league.”
After starting the season at Fir Park, Rangers face Hibernian and Hearts on successive weekends before a trip to Ross County.
Matches at home to Dundee and away to Partick Thistle then follow before Celtic visit Ibrox in the first Old Firm clash of the campaign.
The opening weeks are crucial for Caixinha’s side and Andrews hopes the Gers can hit the heights on a far more regular basis than they were able to do last term.
He said: “It is too early to talk about winning the Premiership because it is a long season and many things can happen in a football season.
“There are so many things that are different in a season when it comes to winning a league. It is not black and white.
“The main thing that Rangers need to do this season is to be consistent and that means week in, week out being at a high level of performance.
“Last season Rangers were too inconsistent and that is why they lost games and drew games that they should have won.
“They were too up and down, one week it was a top performance and the next week it was poor. You can’t do that at Rangers and at the highest level.
“Consistency is important for Rangers this season if they want to make a statement and win anything.
“They have to be better as a team, as a group week in week out. It doesn’t matter who they are playing, they need to be more consistent in their games home and away.”